Ain’t nothing wrong with a store bought items – but there’s something special about starting from scratch. Now I’m not talking about butchering your own cow, growing your own herbs – If you do, I’m jealous and you’re on a whole different level.
I’m talking about your Seasonings, your Sauce, and your Sides. We can throw a whole lot of extra “S” words in there: Smoke, Sear, Slicing – but this is about making that cook of yours (S)pecial.
I thought I’d throw this into one long post, but we’re going with three separate ones. Let’s start with one that’s near and dear to my heart: Seasonings
Seasonings
This is where I got my start in trying to make my cooks their own. I spent a whole summer trying to make the perfect pork rub. It’s no secret that I like almost everything hot and spicy. But there’s a lot of people who absolutely do not like everything hot and spicy. I wanted to bridge that gap where I’d get that subtle bite of spice, and the others would get that look in their eye when they realize they like a little bit too.
Once I retire, I’m hoping to pass the time in the barbecue world. So while I won’t tell you my recipes, I’ll sure as hell tell you what I use and why I do it.
Buy your commercial seasonings, buy your local ones, and look up recipes online. That’s what I did and saw the same common ingredients were prevalent: cayenne, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, brown sugar, chili powder, etc. It’s the same across the board. Some will throw out “Hungarian paprika” or “Himalayan sea salt” or whatever. It’s finding the balance that works for you.
What is the “balance”? Truth be told, it’s whatever YOU think works. Until you have a community smoke and realize it’s wrong. “It’s too sweet, too spicy, not enough, blah blah”. Then you change it up, less salt, more spice, too much garlic.. I wasn’t joking that it took a summer to find the right blend. And it still might not be right. My immediate group all agrees its right, but what about taking it commercially? I can please a group of 10-20, but what if I take it to competition?
I bought these small little Hermes jars to give out for others to try it. Give it to your honest friends, and let them test it out. “It’s good” kind of reviews won’t cut it.. receive critiques. And run with it.
This is my final result, until it isn’t. I personally enjoy the hell out of the result and my group says the same. You’ll see the label has been written as “PORK RUB”, and that’s what my plan for it was. It has definitely eclipsed just pork and is more of a general seasoning for me, but there’s a lot of things lacking, mainly herbs. So let’s roll with another seasoning.
I’ve mentioned my pepper mix in a previous post, but I received bags of super spicy peppers from a friend. I couldn’t use them right away, so I right away thought: SPICES
This prompted me to buy a dehydrator and I sliced them up and provided a pretty good OC-spray to my kitchen. With sinuses clear, I took a few and mortar/pestle’d them into a coarse pepper grind. Yes, I hand-ground these into a blend – it’s worked for centuries, and it certainly worked now.
I can’t even tell you what peppers these were. It’s such a hot and spicy blend that it’ll be in the cupboard for years. It’s good on a burger, great on pizza.. but I’ll soon get a small grinder (it’s at the house! too bad I’m not) and make a dust of some when I need it for a spicy chicken wing or a BBQ-sauce enhancer. It’s always hit or miss when you’re doing this. Fortunately, this blend is a HIT.
I’m gonna go ahead and wrap this up. I can guarantee there will be additional posts regarding seasonings and rubs, but this was my appreciation to truly making the cook your own. Apologies for the long break in posts – I’ve been a little preoccupied on the work front. I haven’t had a good home smoked (or cooked) meal in a few weeks.. can’t wait to get back! Thanks, we’ll see you at the next one!